A semiconductor device (power device) is used for rotation control of a power conditioner or a motor in a photovoltaic power generation system. In order to reduce a footprint, shorten a distance between semiconductor elements to obtain higher performance, and reduce a design load for a user in such a semiconductor device, products (packaged semiconductor devices) including package modules have been increasingly used (for example, see Patent Literatures 1 to 3), the package module containing multiple power devices.
A packaged semiconductor device is called a power module. The power module contains a plurality of power semiconductor elements, e.g., IGBTs (insulated gate bipolar transistors) for switching or MOSFETs (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors). The power module further contains a plurality of driver elements for driving the power semiconductor elements and a plurality of passive elements. Power modules capable of driving and protecting power semiconductors are particularly called IPMs (Intelligent Power Modules) and have been increasingly available on the market.
As illustrated in FIG. 22, a resin case 102 having an insert-molded metal terminal 101 is used in a conventional semiconductor device. Moreover, a metal plate 103 mainly composed of Cu is attached to the bottom of the resin case 102 with an adhesive 104.
An insulating substrate 105 is joined onto the metal plate 103 with solder 106a and has a wiring pattern including ceramic front and back sides coated with Cu foil. The ceramic is, for example, aluminum oxide (Al2O3) or aluminum nitride (AlN).
Power semiconductor elements 107, e.g., IGBTs or reflux diodes are bonded onto the insulating substrate 105 with solder 106b. An electrode formed on the surface of the power semiconductor element 107 and a relay electrode 108 on the resin case 102 are connected to each other via an aluminum wire 109.
Furthermore, a control board 112 is disposed directly above the power semiconductor element 107. The control board 112 has a control element 110 for controlling the power semiconductor elements 107 and so on and a passive component 111, e.g., a capacitor or a resistor. Pin holes 115 on the control board 112 are inserted onto the relay electrodes 108, electrically connecting the power semiconductor elements 107 and the control element 110.
For protection from an external environment, the power semiconductor elements 107 are molded with silicone gel 113 that is charged into a recessed part 114 of the resin case 102.